Waaq Explained

Waaq (also Waq or Waaqa) is the name for the sky God in several Cushitic languages, including the Oromo and Somali languages.^{[1] [2] [3] [4]}

Waaqa (pronounced as /orm/) still means 'God' in the present Oromo language.^[5] Other Cushitic languages where the word is still found include Konso Waaqa; Rendille Wax; Bayso Wah or Waa; Daasanach Waag; Hadiyya Waaʔa; Burji Waacʼi.^{[6] [7]}

In the present-day Somali language, the primary name of God is now the Arabic-derived Allaah.^[8] The term Waaq survives in proper names and placenames. The Somali clan Jidwaaq (meaning ‘Path of God’) have derived their name from Waaq.^[9] Names of towns and villages in Somalia that involve the word Waaq include Ceelwaaq, Caabudwaaq and Barwaaqo.^{[10] [11]}

Waaq is also a word in Arabic for protector (واق) and occurs in the Quran.^{[12] [13]} Some traditions indicate Waaq to be associated with the Harari region.^[14] The Sufi mystic Ibn Arabi mentions in his Al-Futuhat al-Makkiyya that Waaq used to be a generic name for God, in comparison to the Turkic people’s tenets of Tengri.^[15]

In Oromo and Somali culture, Waaq, Waaqa or Waaqo was the name of God in their pre-Christian and pre-Muslim monotheistic faith believed to have been adhered to by Cushitic groups.^[16] It was likely brought to the Horn by speakers of the Proto-Cushitic language who arrived from North Sudan in the Neolithic era.^[2] In more recent times, the religion has mostly declined since the arrival of Islam and Christianity to the Horn of Africa.^[17]

See also

• Somali mythology, including pre-Islamic culture
• Waaqeffanna, traditional Oromo religion

Further reading

• Cerulli . Enrico . Les noms personnels en somali . Onomastica. Revue Internationale de Toponymie et d'Anthroponymie . 1948 . 2 . 2 . 139–142 . 10.3406/rio.1948.1044 .
• Book: 10.1057/9781137091635_6 . The Indigenous and the Foreign . Integration and Peace in East Africa . 2012 . Etefa . Tsega . 127–167 . 978-1-349-29788-7 .
• Gascon . Alain . Hirsch . Bertrand . Les espaces sacrés comme lieux de confluence religieuse en Éthiopie . Cahiers d'études africaines . 1992 . 32 . 128 . 689–704 . 10.3406/cea.1992.1533 .
• Book: Geda . Gemechu Jemal . James L. . Cox . Irreecha: An Indigenous Thanksgiving Ceremony of the Oromo to the High God Waaqa . 143–158 . Critical Reflections on Indigenous Religions . 2013 . Routledge . 978-1-315-57509-4 . https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781315575094-17/irreecha-indigenous-thanksgiving-ceremony-oromo-high-god-waaqa . 10.4324/9781315575094 .
• Pouvoir de bénir et de maudire : cosmologie et organisation sociale des Oromo-Arsi . Cahiers d'études africaines . 1997 . 37 . 146 . 289–318 . 10.3406/cea.1997.3515 . Abbas Haji .
• Kelbessa . Workineh . The Oromo Conception of Life: An Introduction . Worldviews . 2013 . 17 . 1 . 60–76 . 10.1163/15685357-01701006 . 43809476 .
• Mire . Sada . Wagar, Fertility and Phallic Stelae: Cushitic Sky-God Belief and the Site of Saint Aw-Barkhadle, Somaliland . The African Archaeological Review . 2015 . 32 . 1 . 93–109 . 10.1007/s10437-015-9181-z . 43916848 . 162114929 . free .
• Mohamed-Abdi . Mohamed . Les anthroponymes Somalis . Collection de l'Institut des Sciences et Techniques de l'Antiquité . 1993 . 495 . 1 . 177–184 .
• Mohamed-Abdi . Mohamed . Villages-maisons-parcours ou la structuration Somalie de l'espace . Collection de l'Institut des Sciences et Techniques de l'Antiquité . 1993 . 495 . 1 . 137–156 .
• Prunier . Gérard . Segmentarité et violence dans l'espace somali, 1840-1992 . Cahiers d'études africaines . 1997 . 37 . 146 . 379–401 . 10.3406/cea.1997.3519 .

Notes and References

1. Book: Thomas. Douglas. African Religions: Beliefs and Practices through History. Alanamu. Temilola. 2018-12-31. ABC-CLIO. 978-1-61069-752-1. en.
2. Mohamed Diriye Abdullahi, Culture and Customs of Somalia, (Greenwood Publishing Group: 2001), p.65.
3. Samatar. Said S.. Unhappy masses and the challenge of political Islam in the Horn of Africa. Horn of Africa. 20. 1–10.
4. Book: Ali, Aweis . Understanding the Somali Church . 2021 . Kenya Projects Organization [KENPRO] . 978-9914-9929-2-2 . en.
5. Book: Adam . Hussein Mohamed . Mending Rips in the Sky: Options for Somali Communities in the 21st Century . Ford . Richard . 1997 . Red Sea Press . 978-1-56902-073-9 . 126 . en.
6. Hans-Jürgen. Sasse. Consonant Phonemes of Proto-East Cushitic. Afro-Asiatic Linguistics. 7. 1. 1982. 42.
7. Book: Sasse, Hans-Jürgen. An Etymological Dictionary of Burji. Helmut Buske. Hamburg. 186.
8. Book: Lewis, I. M. . Saints and Somalis: Popular Islam in a Clan-based Society . 1998 . The Red Sea Press . 978-1-56902-103-3 . 136 . en.
9. Book: Lewis, I. M. . Saints and Somalis: Popular Islam in a Clan-based Society . 1998 . The Red Sea Press . 978-1-56902-103-3 . 137 . en.
10. Mohamed Diriye Abdullahi, Culture and Customs of Somalia, (Greenwood Publishing Group: 2001), p.65.
11. Lewis . I. M. . 1956 . Sufism in Someliland: A Study in Tribal Islam–II . Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies . en . 18 . 1 . 145–160 . 10.1017/S0041977X00122256 . 1474-0699.
12. Web site: Samatar . S S. . 2002 . Unhappy masses and the challenge of political Islam in the Horn of Africa . catalogue.leidenuniv.nl . 1–10 . en.
13. Web site: SearchTruth . Search Quran - waq in Quran القران الكريم in English translation by Mohsin Khan . SearchTruth.com . en . Chapter: Ar-Ra'd. Verses: 13:34 and 13:37..
14. Book: 10.3406/ista.1992.2545 . Histoire des croyances en Somalie : Religions traditionnelles et religions du Livre . Annales Littéraires de l'Université de Besançon . 1992 . 465 . 978-2-251-60465-7 . Mohamed . Mohamed-Abdi .
15. Book: Ibn Arabi . كِتَابُ الفُتُوحَاتِ المَكِّيَّة . 1240 . 1123 . ar . The Meccan Revelations.
16. Book: Lewis, I. M. . Islam in Tropical Africa . 2017-02-03 . Routledge . 978-1-315-31139-5 . 274 . en.
17. Book: Mire, Sada . Divine Fertility: The Continuity in Transformation of an Ideology of Sacred Kinship in Northeast Africa . 2020-02-05 . Routledge . 978-0-429-76924-5 . en.